Former NASCAR car builder fights for life; Leno doantes tickets:
March 5, 2004 at 12:00 AM
Ken Bainbridge says dying is the easy part. Oh, he promises to fight this cancer thing to the end, to his very last breath. But what really worries him is the family and friends he’ll be leaving behind. “There’s so many people I’m going to hurt,” he said. That’s typical of the man. Anyone in the auto racing community could tell you Bainbridge always put other people first. It didn’t matter if you were a top driver or a novice, or if you had two nickels to rub together. To the “Old Man,” everyone was a star. His garage was always open for you, along with his heart and wallet. Over the past three decades, Bainbridge has helped hundreds of auto racers in Western New York. During his heyday in the 1980s, Bainbridge’s transmissions were under the hood of nearly every modified on NASCAR’s Northeast circuit. Bainbridge built a dragster that’s on display at an auto racing museum in Florida. He’s built transmissions for Cale Yarborough, Kenny Schrader, Jimmy Spencer and Richie Evans. Last month, Bainbridge traveled to North Carolina to be with his family. Keith is a fabricator for Braun Racing. Ken Jr., a promising driver in his younger days, works as a gear and transmission specialist for Ultra Motorsports outside Charlotte. They are carrying on their dad’s legacy in racing’s heartland. Julicher says Ken Sr. could have been a wealthy man if he’d moved his business to the South, but Bainbridge said he was content with what he had here. When his four brothers began planning a benefit, his first reaction was “No way.’ He didn’t want to give the impression that he was something special, that he was better than anyone else. He didn’t want any newspaper article, either, because it might come off as boastful. The benefit is Saturday night, from 5 to 9 p.m. in the North Bailey Fire Hall in Amherst. The auto racing community has donated dozens of items for auction. Comedian Jay Leno, a noted car collector who is familiar with Bainbridge’s work, called personally and donated two tickets to “The Tonight Show.”(Buffalo News), more info on the benefit on my Racing Charities page.(3-5-2004)
